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The group stage of the Twenty20 Cup comes to an end on Friday when all 18 counties are in action in their final game, with a number of games likely to have a marked effect on who takes their place in the quarter-finals.

All counties play their penultimate games - spread over Wednesday and Thursday - but those games will probably not be enough to knock impressive Nottinghamshire off their perch as overall favourites (4.5 at the time of writing).

The Outlaws were the first team to secure a place in the last-eight with five wins from their six outings, and with the other game one of many to be rained out; they along with Warwickshire are the only unbeaten sides remaining in the competition.

Those two sides (the Bears are priced up at 5.1) have been the class of the group stages, but there are other teams who will need some big results (and help from the lousy weather) to have a chance of progressing further.

The biggest game could well be a clash in the North Division, where Nottinghamshire were in charge ahead of Wednesday's away match at Yorkshire, and involves the reigning champions Leicestershire, who needed results in at least one of their last two outings to make it through, at worse as one of the two best third-placed sides.

The Foxes faced Durham on Wednesday at Grace Road in Leicester, but defeat in that game would not necessarily knock them out of a chance at reaching the last-eight although they would prefer not to have to travel to Old Trafford in the knowledge that they would need a win - possibly one entailing a turn around in net run rate as well.

Leicestershire have been highly unfortunate with the weather so far in the competition, with only three of their opening six games actually being completed - the three no results that have suffered equals Northants, winless Derbyshire and Kent for the most one-point hauls.

In the games they have managed to complete, only Durham have managed to beat the Foxes, and even that came in a game reduced to 13 overs by rain, but they were soundly beaten after their usually reliable attack - minus Stuart Broad - was smacked about by wicket-keeper Phil Mustard to the effect of 52 runs off 29 balls.

Realistically 98-6 off 13 overs was never likely to stand up as a winning total, but that was a rare failure for a batting line-up that has been doing its best to overcome the off-season loss of star Twenty20 performer Darren Maddy to Warwickshire, themselves unsurprisingly doing well in this sphere since his arrival.

Leicestershire have not played since late June when they put up their best batting performance of the summer in chasing down a target of 177 to beat Derbyshire with a couple of balls to spare, but for the loss of only four wickets thanks to 67 from Paul Nixon and 66 from skipper HD Ackerman, who held the innings together after a couple of early wickets had fallen.

Their 121-run partnership for the third wicket was one of the best of the season so far but their line up may not be as strong as it once was and if Lancashire are able to make early headway, the Foxes may need help from the likes of Jeremy Snape and John Sadler, likely outsiders in the top batsman market.

Their inactivity has enabled Lancashire to jump into second place in the North table with two wins and a no-result from their last three games, and they were highly impressive in parts of their victories over Roses rivals Yorkshire and Durham, showing strength in both bowling and batting.

Tom Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya each took three wickets as they defended 143 against the Phoenix by a comfortable 30 runs and then England discard Mal Loye thumped 89 off only 62 balls to lead them to a 39-run win over Durham - huge winning margins in this short form of the game.

Lancashire took apart the Dynamos to the tune of 180-4 off their 20 overs, and had it not been for 3-19 from Gareth Breese the damage could have been even worse. Loye, Jayasuriya and the in-form Brad Hodge all played cavalier innings, and Leicestershire's attack will have to be at their best to stop the Lightning piling up another big score, weather permitting.

And once again the spin bowling of Jayasuriya proved vital in Durham's knock, as he took a season-best 4-24 and made it nine wickets in his four games - spin bowling could be the key to this game with Snape likely to need his 'moon ball' working well if the Foxes are to succeed.

In the Midland/Wales/West Division, there are at most three teams battling for a minimum of one place in the last-eight, but second-placed Worcestershire could be vulnerable on Friday, when they travel to fierce rivals Warwickshire, if they are unable to beat Glamorgan on Thursday at the tiny Himley ground (actually in Staffordshire) after New Road was left flooded by the River Severn bursting its banks.

And the picture down South is even more confused, with Sussex's win over Essex on Tuesday meaning that all six teams go into the final two sets of games with at least a slim chance of a quarter-final place.

• Cricket
• Twenty20